I'd Rather Be With You
by Living Cadaver
Summary: On his deathbed, Akira Sohma imparts information to his daughter that will change the lives of the Sohma Zodiac forever. There is another family: the Nakamuras. Akito and the other God have decided everyone's fate: each Zodiac must marry their counterpart
1. Prologue

**"Standing on the moon, With nothing else to do...**

**A lovely view of heaven, But I'd rather be with you."**

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own Fruits Basket. Furuba is the property of Natsuki Takaya. The OCs (original characters) that are used may or may not belong to me. Permission has been asked and given by the owners. 

Paragraphs in italics are flashbacks. Italics + quotation marks are thoughts.

* * *

**Prologue**

The entire room was silent.

No one spoke. No one even breathed.

The silence was deafening in itself. Twenty seven pairs of eyes were locked on the female at the head of the table. Not an eye blinked. Not a finger moved.

Then, all Hell broke loose.

Twenty six voices were instantly thrown into the air, a roar that was deafening to the Goddess's ears. But she would have no quarreling. No arguing.

"You heard what I have said! And my word must be obeyed."

Her voice boomed over the others. Most of them fell silent once more, disbelieving.

Akito stared down each and every pair of eyes at that table.

"You will marry the person seated opposite you. Whether you like it or not. Come, Taishki. Kureno."

The room erupted into a deafening roar once again as the Goddess, God, and former Rooster left everyone to themselves and each other.

Everyone else was at a perfect loss.

"_Why do I have to marry someone I don't know? Who cares if they're cursed with my Zodiac Animal too?"_

++++++++++_  
_

_Akito had been searching._

_Searching and searching and searching._

_Akira had told her to find them._

_So she had to._

_She had to honor her father's wishes._

_It had taken a few years, but finally, she succeeded._

_She had tracked them all down._

_The Nakamura family._

_Ones who, also, for whatever reason, were cursed with the Chinese Zodiac._

_Her father had told her of them on his deathbed. Ren tried to forbid it, but he wouldn't listen to her. He loved his daughter too much to keep her in the dark about this._

_Akito had gone and personally met with the God of the Nakamura Family._

_If there was a God up above, he had dealt both families a cruel hand, and even crueler masters: each Sohma had a corresponding Nakamura of the opposite sex._

_Akito and Taishki had decided to control their families._

_Each pair of matching Zodiacs were to be wed._

_Whether they liked it or not._


	2. Chapter 1

Hatori couldn't believe his ears. Dark eyes stared at an unseen point in the distance. He had to… what now?

He stared at the girl across the table with a blank expression. She wasn't ugly. No no. That wasn't his problem. His problem was having to marry her against his will. He closed his eyes and stared down at the table for a moment to collect his thoughts. He sighed softly, and then looked up.

The girl was staring at the place where Akito had just disappeared down the hall, as if the rest of the people in this room were just puppets to be controlled. She promptly stood up and excused herself from the table. Hatori watched her walk out the front door and into the snow.

He looked at the chaos around him. Everyone was shouting and yelling. Haru seemed on the verge of going black. That would not be a very good thing at the moment. He was going to tell the boy to calm down, but Rin's simple presence seemed to accomplish it.

He sat there for a while, pondering what he should do. Though he was Akito's doctor, he couldn't exactly… ask the Goddess to change her mind. Though others would likely beg, he wouldn't. He couldn't. He had no influence over her anyway.

After a while, he decided to go after her. Although he figured Akito would likely change her mind, if she didn't… Then Hatori would be stuck with this girl forever. As his wife.

He headed outside, trying to drive old memories out of his head. He saw the girl standing a little ways away in the snow. He watched her with expressionless eyes for a moment, and then silently walked over, getting snow all over his new suit.

Suddenly, he saw her raise a hand to her forehead. The position of her fingers were- Oh God…

* * *

Freya couldn't believe her ears. She had to marry this guy? Sure, he was handsome, but that wasn't really the point. She didn't want to be forced into a marriage. She was only eighteen… 

She stared after this Akito person, boring a hole into the God's back with her always vacant sky blue eyes. She then turned to her… fiancée. "Please excuse me." She bowed and rushed out into the snow.

She stood in the softly falling snow, a blank expression on her face. The dragon was always like this. She had to hide her emotions from her face, lest they betray some part of her that she wanted to keep hidden.

She absently ran a hand through her auburn hair. It was naturally streaked with orange-blond and Freya liked it that way. She stood with her hands palm up, to catch the falling snowflakes. It was cold, yes, but she could handle it… She wasn't sure if she could handle this situation.

Marry a man she had just met today? She thought the days of arranged marriages were long past. She also couldn't believe Taishki had agreed to this… Which one of them had thought of this idea? She didn't care which one. Right now, she hated them both.

She looked down at her hands and stared for a long time. Her facial expression and eyes were as blank and vacant as ever. Her family would always become nervous or unsettled at her lack of emotion. But she only did it to protect herself from further heartbreak.

She felt a headache coming on. Her temples throbbed. And the cold wasn't helping much either.

She raised a hand to massage the points of pain and heard the crunch of snow behind her…

* * *

Hatori grabbed her hand and blue eyes snapped up to meet his own. Instead of being afraid, she seemed… calm, somehow. As if she hadn't been planning what Hatori thought she had been. But… he was sure she- 

"Oh, it's you." she said, still staring at him. He dropped her hand and gave a slightly sheepish bow.

"Forgive me. I did not mean to disturb your tranquility. I… wanted to speak with you. Freya, is it?"

Freya nodded. "It is, Hatori-san." She finally took her eyes away from the man. His own orbs reminded her of coal.

Hatori stood there in silence for a moment. "It is rather cold out here. Perhaps we can go inside and speak?"

Freya looked at him and cocked her head to the side slightly. Her voice was soft and almost musical, but not angry in the slightest. It was almost… an empty voice. "I have no wish to return to such a noisy place."

Hatori blinked, and then understood. "Of course. I know of a place where we may go. Please follow me."

Freya nodded and Hatori led her to his office. As always, the room was barely furnished. He still kept his photograph of Kana on the bookshelf. He briefly looked at it as they entered the room. _"Kana…"_

Freya looked around for a moment as Hatori sat in his chair. There was no place for her to really sit, but she didn't mind. She sat on the floor, which was a comfortable enough spot for her.

Hatori studied her for a moment while she looked about. He noted that her gaze was as expressionless as his own. "Freya-san."

"Yes?" She replied calmly, as if she wasn't in a foreign part of a house she'd never been to before, speaking to a man she'd only just met.

The doctor paused. He wasn't exactly sure where to begin this…

"What do you think of this arrangement?"

Hatori blinked. She looked up at him curiously, having asked the first question.

The dragon answered honestly, "I believe Akito will give up on this endeavor eventually, when he realizes this will not work." This answer seemed to satisfy her and she nodded. They sat in silence for a moment.

"You thought I was going to erase my own memories, didn't you?"

Hatori snapped out of his thoughts faster than he could have thought possible. He stared for a moment. So she could erase memories too… "Yes… I did."

"Why?" she adjusted the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. It was white with auburn-colored designs on it, the same shade as her hair. The sleeves were long and flowed out into frills.

"Because… It looked that way." He replied bluntly. It really had.

"I see." Freya studied him for a moment. "Do you think I'm that weak?"

The doctor was more than startled by the question… but the girl's tone held no anger. Just genuine curiosity. This girl was odd, to be sure.

"…No. I don't."

She nodded. "Okay."

Freya sat and looked around a bit more. "What is this place anyway?"

"This is my office… I am the Sohma family doctor." He shifted his weight and rested an arm comfortably on the chair.

"Oh! I see." So he was a doctor, eh? At least she'd be well provided for. Freya had pretty much resigned herself to this fate. She couldn't convince Taishki of anything. In fact, she usually steered clear away from the Nakamura God. He wasn't always sunshine and butterflies. "Since you and I are betrothed for the moment, perhaps we should get to know each other? None of us has any way of knowing if the Gods will change their minds. And in the meantime, we may humor them."

She was a smart girl. "I agree, Freya-san."

"Please, just Freya is fine."

"Then likewise… Hatori is fine for me."


	3. Chapter 2

Just for clarification, this fanfiction occurs in a world where Tohru never met any of the Sohmas. So any positive reactions that she'd caused in them have been reversed. For example, Kisa still doesn't talk.

Also, all Japanese that is mentioned is usually a sibling. This chapter: "onee-san" Big sister.

* * *

Ayame had been completely and utterly stunned at Akito's announcement. So much so, that, for once, in all his twenty-seven years of existence, he was at a loss for words. Could the Gods actually be serious? Would they try to control the futures of all of the Cursed? More importantly, what was supposed to happen to Mi-ne...?

Just moments before, everyone had been so happy... And now everyone was angry, sad, or bitter. He felt a bit bad for the younger ones. They wouldn't even try to stand up to Akito... Not when she could easily do them harm.

His fiancée looked just as shocked as he did. Her long, dark green hair hid her eyes as she stared down at the table. She looked as though she was trying to keep tears from spilling down her face.

The Sohma snake watched her get up and go after one of her relatives, who had just walked from the room in anger. He was very surprised that she hadn't done a similar thing, being so rudely shoved into a marriage with someone she didn't know. Perhaps when she knew him better, she'd see how wonderful he was?

He was a bit off still, gazing around in stunned silence at the ruckus around him. Everyone was so very loud. It took him a moment, but he eventually realized that the girl, Haneru, was back from wherever she had gone.

"_I should… talk to her." _He stood up and started over.

* * *

Haneru stared at the table top, dark green locks hiding her eyes. Was this… her fate? To be stuck marrying this man? 

Oh, and now her cousin, the Ox, was storming out. She went after her and came back after calming the girl down a bit. The girl was as bi-polar as ever.

She was left to her own thoughts again. Her eyes met the floor, gazing down in a gesture of sadness. This was almost too much. Her amber-colored eyes were off in the distance, not a part of her at this precise moment. This had definitely put a damper on her normally cheery demeanor.

Suddenly, she saw Ayame, her new fiancée, get up out of his chair. Happy! That's what she had to be. She was one of the oldest. If she pretended it was all okay, then it would be. Or, at least the younger children wouldn't be so upset. If they saw she was happy, they might feel better.

* * *

"Haneru-san, if you wouldn't mind terribly, I'd like to talk with you a while." 

Haneru blinked and nodded. _"He's taking this rather well…"_

Ayame led the way to an empty hallway, briefly stopping after they'd gone a small distance. "Ah, finally out of the noise."He tossed a few stray locks of ivory hair over his shoulder."I wanted to speak with you Haneru-san... What do you think of this whole marriage arrangement? Not simply us, I mean everyone..."

He really was being very sensible about this. "I feel so bad for the young ones. Fine, go ahead and do it to me, but the kids don't deserve it. It's not fair to any of us, really, but especially not to them," she replied. If the arrangements for them were canceled at the expense of hers still being valid, she didn't care. She wanted what was best for them. Of course she was upset that her future wasn't entirely in her control, but she had to make the best of it.

"I completely agree with you. The younger ones don't deserve it." Ayame replied, his smooth voice quieter than usual.

"I have to keep smiling for them. Maybe then they can think 'Onee-chan is strong, maybe I'll be ok too...' I'm not very happy about this, but I'll do what I have to do and I hope that I'm not too much of a bother to you," she said at last, trying her very hardest not to get too emotional and finishing off with a smile at the end as if to try to prove her point. Sure, she kind of wanted to cry, but she wouldn't.

Ayame was about to reply, then stopped. He looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Do they… all look up to you like that?" If so, she was lucky. His own brother wouldn't even look up to him.

"All of them...? I don't know about that. I like to think that a lot of them do, though," she replied. Ever since she'd freed herself from her home with her parents when she was 18, she had spent all of her free time trying to get close to her cousins and looking back on it now it seemed that she had had good enough success. "It took a lot of work, but I think I understand them all pretty well."

"I see..."She really was lucky. Yuki wouldn't even look up to Ayame... But the snake knew that was really his fault. It was his fault his brother was so distant: because he himself had been distant before. And the gap between them seemed to grow wider and wider with each passing day... He just wished there was something he could do about it. Sometimes, he was afraid that it was already too late... That Yuki would hate him forever...

He really hoped not. But he couldn't really see why Yuki disliked him so much. He was trying to get close to his brother, but the Rat kept pushing him farther and farther away... He didn't understand it at all. He knew he had been... less than a desirable brother in the past, but the past was the past...

"_Regret..."_ Ayame really hated that word. Even though that's really what he felt toward his brother. It couldn't really be anything else. But he certainly couldn't just... apologize. Could he? It went much deeper than that... Much deeper...

In reality... He realized that he was ten years older than his brother. And he also realized that there would be a time when he would no longer be around, but Yuki would. And... He wanted his brother to remember him in a positive light, even if that light took a very long time to shine.

"That must be nice..." He trailed off, deep in his thoughts about Yuki. After a moment or two, he realized that he'd spaced off. Such an act was rare for him. He quickly changed the subject.

"I believe that, eventually, the Gods will change their minds... In the meanwhile, I suggest that everyone humors them for now." He gave the girl a charming smile, finally starting to return to his normal self. "Which means that you and I should get to know each other."

"We should!" Haneru replied cheerfully. "You first!"


	4. Chapter 3

Kisa's eyes grew wide and tears suddenly began to spill down her cheeks. Get married? To this boy? She was only twelve! How was she supposed to get married? And why did Akito decide to choose for her?

She sat in silence, staring down at the table top, still crying. She couldn't go against Akito though… He'd already hurt her once. And Hiro hadn't been talking to her for a long, long time…

She rubbed her eyes in a failed attempt to stop the tears. That just made her frustrated. She was alone, and now engaged against her will to a boy she didn't know!

She silently wondered if Akito did this to torture them all…

Inoku blinked, and then stared across the table at the orange-haired girl.

He was always a selfish little thing. He always whined until he got what he wanted. His gray eyes looked over her figure and her face. She was crying. Why was she crying?

"_The other God is giving her to me to marry? She's cute. And if she's my wife, she'll have to do whatever I say, no matter what! Okay!"_

The tiger boy got up from the table and ran to the other side.

Kisa was rubbing her eyes once more as Inoku approached her and grabbed her hand. She looked up in alarm.

"C'mon! You're going to be my wife, right? So you have to listen to me!" the boy grinned. He practically pulled her out of her chair. "We're going to sit somewhere else!"

Kisa almost whined in helplessness. What was she supposed to do now? There was no one to save her.

Inoku dragged her over to a corner of the room and promptly sat down on the floor, legs straight out in front of him. "Sit down!" he said, in an ordering kind of a voice.

The Sohma tiger looked down at the floor sheepishly, and then sat beside him. She had to listen to him, really. She wouldn't talk. She hated being made fun of… And he seemed exactly the type to do such a mean thing.

"So… Why are you so quiet, huh? Can't you talk?" His black hair was visible by Kisa as she stared at the floor, Inoku trying to look up at her in vain.

She just shook her head and seemed to shrink under his gaze. Tears pricked at her eyes again.

"Hey!" Inoku huffed and reached under Kisa's chin with his finger to tilt it upwards. He quickly pulled his hand away when he saw that she was crying. Was she crying before? He hadn't noticed. The male tiger really hated it when girls would cry.

"H-hey! Stop crying!" he said helplessly, which only caused Kisa to cry more. "Hey, I said stop crying! I'm going to be your husband, so you have to do what I say!"

Kisa rubbed at her eyes in vain. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to marry someone she loved, not someone… like him.

"Hmph. You cry too much." Inoku announced. "Don't bother trying to get to know me or anything; all you need to know is that I'm your husband-to-be!"

Kisa just cried in silence. _Hiro-kun…_


	5. Chapter 4

Rin was ready to jump out of her chair and leave altogether, but this… This was insane.

There was no way she was going to marry someone she didn't know. Not a chance in the world. Akito could push her through a thousand windows. If she died, then she was free of both the bond and this ridiculous idea. She didn't care who she had to leave behind… Even if that person was Haru.

The Sohma horse glared across the table at her fiancée, whose name happened to be Naota. She didn't like him, to say the least. He looked far too perky and hyper. And- was he smiling at her?

Naota watched the other horse with bright eyes. He had absolutely no intention of ever marrying this girl. He didn't care what the Gods thought. Nor did he care what they tried to force him into. Horses were free, not caged like birds. And this horse would remain free like all the others.

This horse, however, was also a bit of a trickster. He gave the girl, Rin, a bright and happy smile, but on the inside, he was scheming away.

People were tools to manipulate. Nothing more.

Rin stood up from her chair and promptly walked off. She had no place here and she didn't want to deal with this stupidity right now. She had better things to be doing. Like going somewhere where no one was. She detested crowds almost as much as food.

Naota quickly got up and followed her, "Excuse me, Rin-san?"

"Go away," the girl called back over her shoulder. She started to walk faster, heading towards the nearest hallway. This boy was making her feel claustrophobic.

"Hey, wait! I want to talk to you!" Naota said rather pleasantly. If he could just get under her skin, he could use her in any way he wanted.

"I said leave me alone!" Rin immediately took off at a run. She couldn't stay here. She had to get away. Away from Akito. Away from Naota… Away from Haru.

"Wait!" Naota ran after her. She seemed to possess the same crazy speed that he did, so it was no surprise to him that he could keep up with her. "I just want to talk to you!"

"No!" She sped up more quickly, deciding to take the most complicated course through the Sohma house to lose this kid. He would quickly get lost.

And get lost he did. After Rin finally lost him, Naota looked around himself in utter confusion. _Where did she go…? _He tried following her and now he was completely lost in this huge house that he didn't know anything about.

"Well, crap."


End file.
